Periods

Over the weekend, I had been talking to my sister while looking at the NYT coverage of Wimbledon. I was surprised to see an article referring to a woman bleeding (actually, kind of shocked, given how much men freak out about it - and a man, Christopher Clarey, had written it):

Jankovic, a 24-year-old extrovert whose matches are routinely eventful, had problems of her own on this sunny, relatively humid day. After saving four set points and winning the first set, she complained of feeling faint and was treated on court by the medical staff.

“I felt really dizzy, and I thought that I was just going to end up in the hospital,” she said.

Jankovic, who said the problem might have been linked to the fact she was menstruating, said she considered retiring from the match. She began crying as she had her blood pressure checked on court. But she ultimately decided to continue and said she experienced no other extreme symptoms except sluggishness (and the disappointment of defeat).

“It’s not easy being a woman sometimes,” Jankovic said. “All these things happen, and what can I do? I tried my best.”

I told my sister, and she wanted to see it, but the article had already been changed by the time I sent her the link. We talked about The Frailty Myth (which she wasn't a fan of) and the story about a woman who won the Boston Marathon but had gotten her period during, which had run down her legs the entire time. But the media apparently made no reference at all to it.